Wireless networks provide data communication services to their users using wireless signals over the air. These wireless communication services include Internet access, voice calling, gaming, file transfers and the like. To provide the services over large geographic areas, wireless access points are deployed by various wireless networks in a complex overlay architecture. There are millions of wireless access points at various locations around the world.
The wireless access points each include antenna systems that exchange wireless signals with user devices over the air. The antenna systems typically include several metallic antenna elements that are electronically driven to perform their wireless communication function. Antenna enclosures are installed to protect the antenna elements from environmental stress such as weather, animals, and the like. The antenna enclosures include power systems, environmental control systems, data communication interfaces, and other systems.
Some antenna enclosures support the installation of antenna modules. The antenna modules typically include amplifiers, filters, modulators, antenna elements and other signal processing components. In some cases, the antenna modules are designed for rapid and massive deployments. For example, a given wireless network may install thousands of antenna modules from different manufacturers in hundreds of antenna enclosures over a relatively short time frame. The network communications and supporting data that the antenna enclosures provide to the antenna modules is not effective or efficient in such a complex and dynamic environment.